Update: The European Commission has confirmed the fine, while also ordering Google make changes to rectify the problem.
Google is bracing itself to be hit with a 4.3 billion euro ($5 billion) fine as a result of its Android operating system strategy, the BBC reports.
The European Commission’s action will mark the conclusion of a three-year investigation into Android’s strategy, which unfairly strengths Google’s dominance as a search engine. The fine will be formally announced later today.
Apple has transferred the first 1.5 billion euro ($1.18 billion) installment of its $16 billion fine ordered by the European Union, reflecting back taxes the company supposedly hasn’t paid.
The payment was confirmed today by Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. In response to Apple paying up, EU authorities are reportedly open to dropping a lawsuit against Ireland for failing to do more to chase Apple’s debt.
Apple’s acquisition of Shazam is now under investigation by antitrust regulators in Europe.
The European Commission is concerned that the deal will give Apple an unfair advantage in stealing users from its rivals. It has promised to provide a decision by September 4.
The European Commission wants tech giants like Apple and other “digital businesses” to pay their fair share of taxes, and it’s announced new proposals to help implement this.
Apple has formerly requested approval for its Shazam acquisition from the European Commission.
EU antitrust regulators confirmed last month that they had launched an investigation into the deal following concerns from seven European countries. Apple will get a decision next month, but it may not be final.
After dragging its feet over collecting its giant 13 billion euros ($15.5 billion) tax bill from Apple, Ireland’s Department of Finance has revealed that an agreement has been reached with Apple over when the sum will actually be paid.
The giant tax haul, which Apple was ordered to pay by the European Commission over a year ago, will be transferred to an escrow account, which will manage the funds until all of Apple’s appeals have been heard. But not until 2018!
In the latest instalment of Apple’s battles with the European Union over taxes, Ireland is set to miss a deadline to hire managers to cary out the collection of its owed taxes.
The Irish debt office previously said that it would hire custodians and investment managers for the estimated $15.3 billion tax bill it was awarded by mid-November. However, Ireland — which has fought against collecting the funds from Apple — hasn’t handed out the contracts as it said it would in tender documents.
The European Commission is continuing its battle with Silicon Valley tech giants by taking Ireland to court, demanding that it reclaim a $17.6 billion tax payment it is owed by Apple.
In addition, it is demanding that Amazon pay it 250 million euros ($294 million) on the grounds that is has enjoyed an illegal “sweetheart deal” in Luxembourg.
Ireland could receive an official rebuke from European Union authorities this week for failing to collect the $17.6 billion tax payment it is owed by Apple.
Apple was supposed to pay the money way back on January 3, but Ireland has continued to battle against the case — with the majority of the country saying it doesn’t want Apple’s money. As a result, the European Commission may issue a so-called “non-compliance action” against Ireland.
Future iPhones and MacBooks will be more robust and easier to repair if the European Commission has its way.
Parliament is pushing for gadget makers like Apple to prolong the lifespan of their products by eliminating planned obsolescence and making it easier for consumers to repair and upgrade their devices.
The U.S. government may intervene as Apple appeals its massive 13 billion euro ($14.52 billion) tax bill from the European Union.
The demand for money was made last year, after the E.U. ruled that Apple has taken advantage of illegal state aid in routing its profits through Ireland. It seems that the U.S. government doesn’t see entirely eye-to-eye with Europe, though.
Google has been fined 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) by European Union regulators for reportedly skewing its search results in a way that hurts smaller shopping search services.
In addition to the massive fine, Google has been told that if it doesn’t stop its “illegal” suppression of rival price comparison services within 90 days, the European Commission will fine it up to 5 percent of its daily revenue.
Apple has filed a defense against its massive European Commission tax bill, arguing that it shouldn’t have to pay its $14 billion tax bill, and that the request should be either totally or partially annulled.
The argument, essentially, is a 14-point extension of Tim Cook’s previous assertion that existing tax codes are designed for an industrial, rather than a digital age.
Apple asserts that the European Commission misunderstands Apple’s business dealings, and says the reason it shouldn’t have to pay massive taxes in Ireland is because the actual profit-driving work Apple does is carried out elsewhere.
Undeterred by its massive tax bill from the European Commission, Apple has confirmed it is shifting its international iTunes business from Luxembourg to Ireland.
The move, which will take place on February 5, was announced in an email to developers today. However, Apple started planning for it last September when it transferred all developer accounts and around $9 billion in assets from Luxembourg to Ireland.
Apple’s massive tax bill from the European Commission is tantamount to an ill-advised “land grab” and could be reversed in court, claims Feargal O’Rourke, the man who heads up the tax practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ireland.
Speaking at the Irish Times corporation tax summit in Dublin, O’Rourke said he is confident the Commission’s decision will be overturned by the European Court of Justice.
In a statement, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell said Cupertino has been targeted because of its success, implying that European legislators picked on the company for largely symbolic reasons.
Ireland is set to submit its formal appeal of a European Commission ruling that claimed Apple owes the country more than $14 billion in unpaid taxes.
The controversial tax ruling has been opposed by Irish citizens, a majority of whom say they don’t want Apple’s money. Ireland’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan said today that the country’s government has no choice but to appeal.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the eurozone’s finance ministers, has accused Apple of “[failing] to grasp” the public outcry concerning tax avoidance by multinational corporations.
He was referring to last week’s landmark decision, which handed Apple an enormous tax bill of 13 billion euros ($14.52 billion), based on its supposed underpayment of taxes in the Republic of Ireland. Apple paid a reported 0.005 percent tax on its European profits in 2014.
But which one will be most damaging, and which will quickly be forgotten? Apple’s tax fight is sure to rage on for months, but will faulty phones leave a bad taste in the mouths of Samsung fans a lot longer?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss the sad start to September for Apple and Samsung.
Tim Cook says that Apple is among the biggest Irish taxpayers, and claims anti-U.S. bias is “one reason” the company was targeted by the European Commission.
Cook was responding to this week’s news, in which Apple was handed an enormous tax bill of €13 billion ($14.52 billion) after an investigation into its reportedly illegal “sweetheart deal” in Ireland, giving it an unfair advantage over rivals.
The headquarters of the ruling government party of Ireland, Fine Gael, was the site of recent apple massacre after angry citizens flocked to the offices to protest Apple’s massive tax breaks.
Members of the youth wing Sinn Fein impaled apples of the orange and red variety on the fences of Fine Gael’s Dublin offices following the revelation from the European Commission that Ireland intentionally lowered Apple’s tax burden.
Tim Cook has written an open letter addressing Apple’s enormous tax bill, arguing that the European Union’s demand for €13 billion ($14.52 billion) in unpaid back taxes will have a “profound and harmful effect” on “investment and job creation in Europe.”
At present, Apple employs close to 6,000 people in Ireland, as well as “sustaining” 1.5 million jobs across Europe — including those at Apple and other manufacturers, developers and suppliers who rely on it.
The European Commission has finally finished its investigation into Apple’s tax breaks with Ireland and it appears that the company will be slapped with a fine for more than $1 billion in back taxes.
The commission’s final ruling is expected to come tomorrow, according to a new report that claims Ireland will be expected to calculate exactly how much Apple owes.
Apple will join multinationals Google, McDonald’s and IKEA in defending its European tax deals against E.U. lawmakers this Wednesday.
The hearing concerns whether or not giants like Apple are receiving illegally favorable tax deals, which give them an unfair advantage over local businesses.